OWENSBORO, Ky. (10/18/13) -The Daviess County Board of Education discussed Thursday night that their accomplishments in the past year were based on their “great expectations”.

Five schools in the district received distinguished ratings and nine schools received proficient ratings, currently making the district in the 92nd percentile of all Kentucky schools, based on the 2012-2013 school year.

Superintendent Owens Saylor gave a brief presentation on how they accomplished the high numbers, saying that the expectations of excellence reached an “incredible level”. He also thanked the “incredi-ble” instruction at each of the schools, and said that leadership really does matter when it comes down to supporting each of the needs of the students.

A new evaluation system that DCPS hopes will increase their accomplishments is being piloted in the district to increase student learning by ensuring that the most effective instructors and principals are teaching and administrating. The Professional Growth and Effectiveness System use multiple evalua-tion tactics including student growth, peer observations, teacher and principal self-reflection, and class-room observations to evaluate each teacher and principal’s effectiveness, according to the Kentucky Department of Education’s website. The system will be fully applied in the district in the 2014-2015 school year, and will be fully implemented in the 2015-2016 school year.

The next Daviess County Board of Education luncheon is scheduled for Nov.19 at 11:45 a.m.